Chemotherapy frequently induces hair loss. With chemotherapy, patients not only experience reduced stamina and independence but also must wear a physical symbol of their illness in the loss of their hair. This loss of hair is a traumatic experience that may well result in lower self-esteem and overall resistance. Some patients are known to have refused chemotherapy for fear of losing their hair. Scalp tourniquets have been used for several decades to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia. This technique involves the placement of a pneumatic tourniquet around the hairline at the time of administration of the chemotherapeutic drug. The tourniquet is then inflated to a pressure above the systolic arterial pressure, reducing blood flow to the scalp. The effectiveness of this technique has never been unambiguously demonstrated. The use of tourniquets has more or less been replaced by scalp hypothermia. With this technique, the scalp temperature is lowered to below 24° C. by application of cold packs, etc., prior to chemotherapy. The technique has been reported to afford a 50-70% good to excellent hair protective effect. However, results have remained notoriously variable. Furthermore, the practice is rather uncomfortable and is only tolerated for a short time. It is likely to be most effective for chemotherapy agents with short half lives. Moreover, several cases of scalp metastases in patients who used scalp hypothermia were reported. Finally, the technique appears to work considerably less well for combination chemotherapy than for therapy using single agents. Several pharmacological approaches for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced hair loss were also tested. For a review, see Dorr. 1998. Semin. Oncol. 25: 562-570. Most of the drugs tested failed (for example, alpha-tocopherol, minoxidil, calcitriol) or showed a marked sex preference (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3). More promising results were obtained with the immunomodulatory substance ammonium trichloro (dioxy-ethylene-0,0′) tellurate (AS101). Sredni et al. 1996. Int. J. Cancer 65: 97-103. However, confirmation of this study is still being awaited. Furthermore, the question has to be resolved whether the immunomodulator is only effective if administered weeks prior to chemotherapy. If so, that would diminish somewhat the usefulness of the compound. Another drug candidate may be ImuVert, perhaps used in combination with acetylcysteine. ImuVert is a membrane vesicle-ribosome preparation from Serratia marescens. The combination of AS101 and acetylcysteine showed efficacy in a rodent model, but no human data are available. Some caution may be appropriate, since Imuvert as a biological response modifier has the potential of producing unacceptable toxicities. Thus, there is no drug on the market that generally protects against chemotherapy-induced alopecia, and there are only few drug candidates that are under active development. There is therefore a need for additional drug candidates and methods for protection against chemotherapy-induced alopecia.